Levy said she learned the importance of advocating for people while working as an intern for the Miami-Dade Public Defender's Office. She is now in private practice. The last six months as a traffic court magistrate, handling an average of 175 cases in two hours, has fine-tuned Levy for the bench, she said.

"It's imperative to have the judicial temperament to be able to manage such a large docket and to manage a very crowded courtroom, as well having knowledge of the law," she said.

Lopane has spent the last seven years presiding over dependency hearings as a general magistrate, deciding cases of abused, neglected and abandoned children.

"When you're dealing with dependency cases you're not only making a legal decision, but you're making a decision that's going to affect a child's life, and I've done that tens of thousands of times," he said. On July 21, Lopane had to resign from his position for the duration of his campaign.

During his 16-year career, Yanofsky says he has "represented people on every level" from traffic tickets to felony cases, from county court to the state Supreme Court.Yanofsky, who teaches law as an adjunct professor at Nova Southeastern University, said he is looking "to make a difference," but he's not running "a big glitzy campaign."

"I just want to make a commitment to have the law applied fairly and uniformly," he said.

Group 30

The two candidates are Alan Marks, a general magistrate and former Broward assistant public defender, and Robin Sobo Moselle, a commercial litigation and collection law attorney.

Marks served as a Broward general magistrate primarily in the family division from 1996 until July 20 when he had to step down for the campaign. He presides over about 3,000 hearings a year, he said.

"I'm handling real court cases day in and day out, everyday," Marks said. "I administer a courtroom. I make decisions, recommendations and orders. I don't need on-the-job training."

Moselle has spent her 15-year legal career in private practice as a civil litigator. "In county court, it's important to be a people person as well as a legal mind," Moselle said. "I have a full understanding of the county-court system. That, along with my ability to work well with people and to manage a large case load makes me an ideal candidate for the bench."

Group 31

The candidates are Arlene Simon Campione, a Florida juvenile justice attorney and a former nurse; Michael "Mike" Doddo, an attorney who represents police officers;Ellen A. Feld, a civil lawyer who has spent her 23-year career in private practice; Michael Alan Mermer, a criminal-defense and family-law attorney; and Christopher M. "Chris" Neilson, a former assistant attorney general and Hollywood police officer.

Campione said she went from nursing to law because she saw "how the law can change peoples' lives for the better."

"[County Court] is most peoples' introduction to the legal system," Campione said. "As a County Court judge you need to be able to relate to people and to uphold the dignity and the rule of law, but at the same time the dignity of the people that are before you."

Doddo said that as a trial attorney for 34 years, he understands the importance of efficiency, timeliness and letting everyone have their say.

"I would like every litigant, when he or she leaves the courtroom, to feel that justice resided there," he said.

Feld said she is adept at helping people resolve disputes, has a knack for managing large caseloads and has a "keen familiarity of the law and the judicial process and the proper temperament."

"Representing clients from all walks of life has taught me that a judge must be sensitive and understanding," she said. Mermer said that as a judge he would be committed to upholding individual and constitutional rights and ensuring that people in his courtroom "don't come back for the same thing a second time."

"It's critical that a judge be the safety valve of the judicial system," he said. "He's there not to just punish the guilty, but to absolutely ensure that innocent people never pay for something they didn't do."

Neilson said he enforced the law as a police officer, learned new areas of the law as an investigator and fined-tuned his abilities as an assistant attorney general and in private practice.

"I have served the community in various law enforcement, investigative, legal and community leadership capacities over three decades," he said.